Compared to their male counterparts, women in American society who abuse or become dependent upon alcohol have been consistently overlooked as subjects for research investigation related to development of addictive behaviors and appropriate treatment approaches. Only recently have scientific inquiries been directed toward study of potential sex-specific differences in the effects of alcohol on emotions and behavior, an little is known about the effects of alcohol on functioning in women or about the interaction of the unique aspects of female endocrinology and response to or self-selection of beverage alcohol. A series of nine studies is designed to begin to address these gaps in existant knowledge which make use of intra- and intersex comparisons (i.e., normally cycling women at high versus low estrogen points of the menstrual cycle; women maintained on oral contraceptives versus nonoral contraceptive women; women versus men). These studies will yield normative data on the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on the cognitive processes of learning and memory (acquisition, storage, and retrieval), on fluctuating mood states, and on self and observer ratings of intoxication levels. Relationships between self-selection of beverage alcohol and such potentially influential but possibly independent variables as estrogen levels (preovulatory-ovulatory versus premenstrual-menstrual levels), mood state changes occuring concomitant with or independent of such changes, and more enduring mood dispositions of depression and anxiety will be explored with intra- and intersex comparisons performed as appropriate. Finally, the tension-reduction hypothesis will be tested using an expectancy format to describe the effects of acute alcohol intoxication or the expectancy of intoxication on self-reported states of anxiety and depression, electrodermal and heart rate activity, and self and observer reported intoxication ratings with appropriate intra- and intersex comparisons. Essentially, the range of studies will reflect in part the variety of research work accomplished with samples of male nonalcoholics alone.